Issachar
    n 1: (Old Testament) a son of Jacob and a forebear of one of the
         tribes of Israel

	

	Issachar
   hired (Gen. 30:18). "God hath given me," said Leah, "my hire
   (Heb. sekhari)...and she called his name Issachar." He was
   Jacob's ninth son, and was born in Padan-aram (comp. 28:2). He
   had four sons at the going down into Egypt (46:13; Num. 26:23,
   25).
   
     Issachar, Tribe of, during the journey through the wilderness,
   along with Judah and Zebulun (Num. 2:5), marched on the east of
   the tabernacle. This tribe contained 54,400 fighting men when
   the census was taken at Sinai. After the entrance into the
   Promised Land, this tribe was one of the six which stood on
   Gerizim during the ceremony of the blessing and cursing (Deut.
   27:12). The allotment of Issachar is described in Josh.
   19:17-23. It included the plain of Esdraelon (=Jezreel), which
   was and still is the richest portion of Palestine (Deut. 33:18,
   19; 1 Chr. 12:40).
   
     The prophetic blessing pronounced by Jacob on Issachar
   corresponds with that of Moses (Gen. 49:14, 15; comp. Deut.
   33:18, 19).

	

	Issachar, reward; recompense